Ronaldo to Barcelona & January’s five most ridiculous transfer rumours
Martin Macdonald
- 1 Feb 2022 09:57 CST
- 5 min read
The January transfer window, probably even more so than its summer counterpart, can be an exciting time with clubs desperately attempting to plug holes in their squads before the end of the month.
There is a certain air of desperation about some of the ways clubs conduct business as they have much less time to do so than in the summer, when it is easier to plan and mould squads.
January transfers are, more often than not, reactionary.
With that territory, naturally, comes transfer rumours that are either extremely out of the blue or that simply were never going to result in an actual deal being done.
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Here are five of the craziest transfer stories from this January.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd to Barcelona)
A report from Sport suggested that a switch to Barcelona was possible for Cristiano Ronaldo, which would have come as a bombshell given his history with Real Madrid.
The reason why it was touted is the strong relationship between his agent, Jorge Mendes, and Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany.
Beyond Ronaldo’s history with Real Madrid, there were practical difficulties that make this move impossible to see.
Barca would eventually conduct business in the window by signing Ferran Torres, loaning Adama Traore and bringing in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for free.
But in order for these deals to be completed, significant salary reductions had to be implemented for both new and existing players.
Ronaldo would not have accepted a salary reduction.
Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea to Inter)
Romelu Lukaku caused a storm at the end of December after he gave an unauthorised interview to Sky Sport Italia during which he declared his unhappiness at Chelsea, criticised manager Thomas Tuchel’s tactics and said that he wanted to return to Inter.
This infuriated Chelsea’s management, owners and fans, leading to Lukaku being dropped and fined.
Rumours suddenly swirled that Lukaku was going to quit the club in January, with Gazzetta dello Sport and other media reporting that the Belgian was set to return to Inter.
This was a rather ridiculous suggestion given that Inter are in the middle of a much-publicised economic crisis, with their Chinese owners Suning battered financially by the Coronavirus pandemic.
Inter were forced to sell Lukaku for €115 million and Achraf Hakimi for €70m last summer to help pay some of the debts. The Nerazzurri couldn’t even afford Lukaku’s left foot, not to mention there is no longer space for him at the club.
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid to Newcastle)
Ahead of the transfer window, a lot of the buzz surrounded the business that Newcastle would conduct.
That is because, thanks to a Saudi-backed takeover, they are now the richest club in the world.
They were subsequently linked with a number of world-class players, as this list shows.
El Nacional reported that Real Madrid's Toni Kroos was a January target, but it never looked likely.
The midfielder decided to retire from the Germany international team after Euro 2020 and in his farewell message he confirmed that his only remaining ambition was to spend his few remaining years as a player offering all he can to Madrid.
“Above all, because I want to concentrate fully on my goals with Real Madrid for the next few years,” said Kroos in an Instagram post back in July.
Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid to Newcastle)
The two names that circulated in the immediate aftermath of Newcastle's takeover were that of Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland.
Mbappe’s contract at PSG expires at the end of the current season and it seems highly unlikely that he will be penning an extension.
Instead, the World Cup winner plans to join Real Madrid on a Bosman Transfer, having come very close to moving to the Santiago Bernabeu this past summer.
Most of the links with Mbappe were nothing but opinion, such as that from World Cup winner Emmanuel Petit, who contributed to the rumour mill by saying "anything could happen" when asked if Mbappe could ditch his Real Madrid plans for Newcastle.
The Magpies are fighting relegation.
Thomas Muller (Real Madrid to Newcastle)
Even for the transfer window this was an outlandish piece of news, as in the final week of the month, 'Mr Bayern Munich' Thomas Muller was strangely linked with a sensational switch to Newcastle.
What makes this particular rumour all the more baffling is that it came from a very respectable German source in SportBild, who reported that Muller was set for Newcastle talks.
Muller may be 32-years-old, but he remains a key player for Bayern Munich and undoubtedly one of the most effective forwards in Europe.
In the 2021/22 Bundesliga campaign he has scored six goals and recorded more assists than anyone in a top European league with 17.
Why, then, would Bayern allow him to leave mid-season?
